Film star Sir Sean Connery has sued a Hollywood production company for $11m (£7m) over claims it reneged on a film deal.

Mandalay Entertainment Group is said to have approached the 72-year-old actor in 1999 about a role in a thriller called End Game.

We are confident in our position that the claims are frivolous and without any merit

Mandalay spokesman

He agreed to produce the film and star as a CIA agent.

The actor was encouraged to spend "considerable time, effort and money" in developing the project, according to legal documents filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court.

But when he began meeting directors in the hope of beginning production earlier this year "Mandalay and Guber suddenly refused to cooperate... and simply cut off all communications," the lawsuit claims.

Sir Sean says the firm strung him along for two years "in an attempt
to hold themselves out to the entertainment industry as a viable production company. Mandalay, however, was nothing more than a house of cards".